Apparatus for obtaining sodium chloride



Jan. 3, 1933. a. B. BURNHAM 1,892,760

I APPARATUS FOR OBTAINING SODIUM CHLORIDE Filed Sept. 5, 1928 A TTORNEYS Patented 'Jan- 19 3 PATENT OFFICE GEORGEIB: BURNHK-M, F RENO; NEVADA APPARATUS iFOR OBTAINING- SODIUM CHLORIDE Application filedSeptember 5, 1928.-v Serial No. 304,119.

invention relates to apparatus. which may expediently be used in carry ng out a processzfor obtaining 'avsalt such as crystalline sodium chloride fromsalihe liquor containing the same. Such a' process-us disclosed in my co-pending application entitled Process of obtaining sodium'ch'loridef'S'erml No. 69,275,

An object ofmy invention. is to provide apparatus in: which salt crystals above a cor tain" size only willbe collected;

An additional object of my invention is to *provide'apparatusin which a diminishing upward velocitfyis imparted toa salme'llquor Fig-.1 is a diagrammatic"representation of" my apparatus, the crystalli'zing;- tank and associated? parts and the evaporating; pond? being shown. in" the transverseg section', and" the direction-offiowrofthe saline liquor bev singindicated" by-.lines:p rovided with arrow" "heads.-

In its preferred? form, the apparatus" of? my invention comprises atank' of varying cross sectioir thru; which fluid is adapted to flow with correspondingly-:varyingwelocity; ""the tank havihg;aninlet'torrfluid from an initial container, and having a collecting pocket disposedto-recei've material 'gravltallyr separatedfiromithe fluid? I shall describe the apparatus aszit' 1s employediin connection with my process for oh- I tainingi sodium chloride from the subter raneanabrihe found at Searles. Lake; can:

fornia; butthe apparatus is advantageously C employed inother processes-. v andf environ ment's aswell. V

The subterranean Searlesi Lake brine 1s pumped into an initial container: such as a. large pond}- 10 to evaporate in the; sun and" win'di One pond can be used to operate the process, orapluralityof pondsmayj be used.

In the latter case; asthe brineuevaporates'and becomes-' more and more concentratedait 1s shall not occur in the evaporating pond, but shall take place in a container from which the sodium chloride can easily be removed,

thezbrine is caused to flow! by suitable means thruamass of sodium chloride crystals held in a suitable container. The pump 11 takes the brine from the pond thru a pipe repre-- sented by the dotted: line 12 and discharges it thru an inlet conduit 13 provided with a regulatingvalve 14,-.into a crystallizingtank 15. The tank 15 is made with upwardly flaring walls and may conveniently be made of circular horizontal section, so that.- it

is approximately conical. -The upward velocity of the brine entering-thru the-inlet conduit 13is' gradually lessened as the liquid approaches the top of the tank. The actual velocity may be regulated by adjusting the valve 14 to regulate the quantity of liquid pumped. Attthe top otthe crystallizingtank, an overflowlaunder 1'1 is provided. and:may

be extended entirely around the periphery of the. tank; Liquid overflowing the tank l5 is caughtin the overflow launder-and returned.

tothe'pOndlO-by means of a pipe. represented. I

by. the line 18'.-

A-short distance above-the bottom of the. crystalli'zing tank, a perforated. partition. 19'

is mounted." The partition is preferably horizontally disposed and serves: by means of its perforations,.to distribute the incoming. fluid'in the tank. The mass of sodium chlo,- ride crystals used to initiate the crystallization of that salt from the brine. isdisposed above the perforated-partition. The brine entering thru the inlet conduit. 13 and pass: ing upwardly thru the perforationsflinthe partitionzl9 comes into intimate contact with the sodiumtchloride crystals andcrystallizes out the sodium chloride it contains-depositing' the newly formed crystals upon ithecrystals previously in the tank, causing them to grow larger and drop gravitally thru the: brine The crystals drop. to the bottomoi'the tank and falllthru the perforationsrinthe partition; when they have grown large enough to overcome the rather high velocity oftheliquid flowingthru the perforations lt'will 'b e' appreciatedthatby placing parti- 9 tions with different size holes in the crystallizing tank, I can easily control the dimensions of the crystals which pass therethru. It will also be apparent that by varying the size of the holes in the partition 19, and by regulating the valve 14, I can control to a nicety the size of the crystals passing below the partition. This perforated partition also has the advantage of preventing eddy currents in the tank which are apt to be caused by the large ets of brine from the intake conduit. The numerous openings in the partition cause the brine stream to be broken up into many small streams and there are consequently fewer eddy currents. If the slope of the sides of the cone are relatively steep, the partition may be omitted, allowing the brine to flow upward with gradually decreasing velocity. without causing eddy currents. At the top of the tank the brine is relatively quiet and overflows as a practically clear liquor. A plurality of partitions may be used if desired.

The brine which overflows from the launder of the tank is returned to the solar pond to evaporate and again becomes supersaturated with sodium chloride and the process is repeated so that the entire volume of brine in the pond may be circulated once or even several times during a day thru the coneshaped crystallizing tank. In this way, a large partof the sodium chloride crystallizing from the brine is formed in the tank where it can readily be recovered.

As shown in the drawing, the crystallizing tank 15 is provided in its bottom with a second opening 23. This opening is a. collecting conduit or pocket and is preferably arranged adjacent to and parallel with the inlet conduit 13. The collecting conduit communicates with a chamber 21 which houses a bucket conveyor or other suitable elevating mechanism. The chamber 21 receives the large crystals that fall thru the partition 19, since there is no upward current in conduit 23 as there is in conduit 13. The crystals collecting in the chamber 21 are of uniform size and are carried by the conveyor 22 into suitable storage bins, not shown, above the crystallizing tank.

It is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the form of the apparatus for obtaining sodium chloride shown and described herein, as the invention, as set forth in the following claims may be embodied in a plurality of forms.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for recovering salts from brine, a crystallizing tank, an inlet conduit arranged in the bottom of said tank for passing an inlet stream of brine into the tank, and a hydraulically closed collecting chamber arranged in the bottom of said tank and adjacent the inlet conduit for collecting substantiallyall the salt crystallized from the brine and falling against the inlet stream of brine.

2. In an apparatus for recovering salts from brine, a crystallizing tank having upwar lly flaring sides, a perforated partition disposed transversely in said tank, an overflow launder disposed around the upper periphery of said tank, a pump, an inlet conduit communicating with said pump and the bottom of said tank, a container, a conveyor in said container, and a collecting conduit connecting said container to the bottom of said tank and being disposed adjacent said inlet conduit.

8. In an apparatus for recovering salts from brine comprising brine supply means, a crystallizing tank for receiving brine from said supply means and for passing said brine upwardly along one side of the tank in a stream of increasing area and decreasing velocity whereby crystals formed in the brine become suspended in the stream substantially according to their specific gravity, and hydraulically closed means positioned on the opposite side of the tank from the brine inlet for collecting crystals from said tank having a specific gravity such that they pass out of sus'iension in a quiescent area in the flowing l, ine array from the brine inlet.

l. In a crystallizing apparatus, a crystallizing vessel, an inlet connection to the vessel, means for delivering a brine for treatment to the inlet connection including a delivery pipe, a perforated plate positioned over the inlet connection and in the lower portion of the vessel so as to distribute flow from the inlet connection, and a hydraulically closed outlet connection, said outlet connection being in communication with the vessel beneath the perforated plate so that crystals formed in the vessel and passing through the perforations in the plate are collected.

5. In a crystallizing apparatus, a crystallizing vessel having sides flaring upwardly to an open top, an inlet connection to the vessel, means for delivering a brine for treatment to the inlet connection including a delivery pipe, a perforated plate positioned over the inlet connection and in the lower portion of the vessel so as to distribute flow from the inlet connection, and a hydraulically closed outlet connection, said outlet connection being in communication with the vessel beneath the perforated plate so that crystals formed in the vessel and passing through the perforations in the plate are collected.

6. In a crystallizing apparatus, a crystallizing vessel, wall extended across the vessel to divide the vessel into a crystallizing portion and a brine portion, the wall including a plurality of passages therethrough from one portion to the other, means for delivering brine to the brine portion, and a hydraulically closed crystal collecting means communicatin g with said brine portion for receiving substantially all crystals formed in the crystallizing portion.

7. In an apparatus for recovering salts from brine, a crystallizing tank having up- Wardly flaring sides, a perforated partition disposed transversely in said tank, a pump, an inlet conduit communicating with said pump and the bottom of said tank, a container, a conveyor in said container, an otherwise closed collecting conduit connecting said container to the bottom of said tank and opening tllereinto adjacent said inlet conduit, and means for controlling flow of brine into the tank to control the size of crystals collected in said container.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE E. BURNHAM. 

